Neonatal Intensive Care Units (NICU) specialize in treating and caring for newborn infants that are ill and/or born prematurely. In these units, neonates (i.e. infants less than about 4 weeks old) are typically fed nutritional liquids such as breast milk from the baby's mother or prepared formula. For these feedings, milk pumped from the baby's mother is often refrigerated or frozen during storage. Prior to administration of the nutritional liquid to the neonate, the stored milk/formula is defrosted (if necessary) and warmed to a suitable temperature. In the past, the process of defrosting/warming of baby bottles has been a relatively labor intensive, time consuming process. For example, defrosting/warming of a baby bottle by immersing the bottle in a cup of tap water or microwave heated water can be a labor intensive process. Further compounding this poor situation is the fact that these procedures are typically performed by a highly skilled NICU nurse whose skills and time are much more valuable in performing other functions in the NICU. Moreover, these rudimentary heating techniques can damage the nutritional liquid by overheating it and often result in a nutritional liquid that is either too hot or too cold for the neonate.
As alluded to above, nutritional fluids for neonates must be served at the proper temperature. The optimal serving temperature is about 97° F.; close to the temperature that breast milk is delivered by a mother. Since this temperature is 27 degrees Fahrenheit above room temperature, the nutritional fluids must typically be warmed before they are administered to the neonate. During warming of the fluid, care must be taken to avoid overheating the fluid. In fact, temperatures over about 103° F. can kill enzymes, proteins and blood cells that are important components of the nutritional fluid. In this regard, heating techniques that rely on radiation and/or convective heat transfer tend to heat the fluid in a non-uniform manner. This non-uniform heating can often result in hot spots (i.e. portions of the fluid that are overheated), resulting in the destruction of important fluid components.
While handling the fluid, and during the warming process, it is important to ensure that bacteria is not introduced into the nutritional fluid. This is because exposure of a neonate to certain types of bacteria can cause adverse complications. One such adverse complication, necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) occurs in about 3%-7% of all infants in neonatal intensive care units. In more detail, NEC is an inflammatory gastrointestinal (GI) disease which causes tissue necrosis in the GI tract. Unfortunately, a large percentage of neonates that contract NEC die of the disease (in one study an NEC morbidity rate exceeding 25 percent was found).
One way to avoid the introduction of harmful bacteria is to sterilize the materials, containers and equipment that are used to defrost and/or warm the nutritional fluid. Known sterilization techniques include the application of heat, chemicals, irradiation or high pressure. One form of sterilization involves the use of non-ionizing ultraviolet (UV) radiation from a germicidal lamp. For this technique to be effective, the targeted bacteria must be exposed to the UV light for a minimum period of time. This exposure time is generally dependent on the intensity of the UV light being used. For the sterilization process, the UV light generated by a germicidal lamp typically has a UV-C wavelength. At these wavelengths, the light is harmful to humans. Thus, sterilization using this type of radiation must be performed inside a protective (i.e. shielded) housing.
In light of the above, it is an object of the present invention to provide a system and method for preparing a nutritional liquid for ingestion by a neonate. Another object of the present invention is to provide a system and method for warming and administering a nutritional fluid to a neonate at the proper temperature without introducing harmful bacteria. Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a system and method for sterilizing and heating water that can be used to warm a neonate nutritional liquid by conductively transferring heat from the water to the neonate nutritional liquid. Still another object of the present invention is to provide a UV adapter for preparation of neonate nutritional fluid that is easy to use and comparatively cost effective.